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E Street Band
The E Street Band has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. The band has also recorded (both individually and as a band) with a wide range of other artists including Bob Dylan, Meat Loaf, Neil Young, Lou Reed, Bonnie Tyler, Air Supply, Dire Straits, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Nicks, Tom Morello, Sting, Ian Hunter, Ringo Starr, Ray Davies, Ronnie Spector, Gary U.S. Bonds, Darlene Love, Southside Johnny, The Grateful Dead, Santana, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Tracy Chapman, Lady Gaga, and Aretha Franklin. When not working with Springsteen, members of the band have recorded solo material and have pursued successful careers as session musicians, record producers, songwriters, actors, and other roles in entertainment. The most well known in their separate careers are Max Weinberg, who has led his own band, first on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and then on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, from 1993–2010, and Steven Van Zandt, who starred as Silvio Dante in the television series The Sopranos (1999-2007), and as Frank "The Fixer" Tagliano in Lilyhammer ''(2012-14). History Members The E Street Band was founded in October 1972, but it was not formally named until September 1974. Springsteen has put together other backing bands during his career, but the E Street Band has been together more or less continuously for the past four decades. The original lineup included Garry Tallent (bass), Clarence Clemons (saxophone), Danny Federici (keyboards, accordion), Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez (drums), and David Sancious (keyboards). The band took its name from the street in Belmar, New Jersey, where Sancious' mother lived. She allowed the band to rehearse in her garage. ‘Bruce’ tourism to the area often mistakenly believe the house was on the corner of E Street and 10th Avenue, perhaps due to the song Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out about the band's beginnings. The Sancious house was at 1107 E Street with the garage squeezed between the house and the southside fence. Springsteen's debut ''Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. appeared in 1972, and the band's first national tour began in October 1972. Sancious, even though he played on the album, missed that first tour. It was not until June 1973 that he began appearing regularly on stage with the band. In February 1974, Lopez was asked to resign, and was briefly replaced by Ernest "Boom" Carter. A few months later, in August 1974, Sancious and Carter left to form their own jazz fusion band called Tone. They were replaced in September 1974 by Roy Bittan (keyboards) and Max Weinberg (drums). Violinist Suki Lahav was briefly a member of the band before leaving in March 1975 to emigrate to Israel (where she would later find success as a songwriter and novelist). Steven Van Zandt (guitar, vocals), who'd long been associated with Springsteen and had played in previous bands with him, officially joined the band in July 1975 during the Born to Run Tour. This lineup remained stable until the early 1980s when Van Zandt left to pursue his own career, a move that was announced in 1984. He would later rejoin the band in 1995. In June 1984, Nils Lofgren (guitar, vocals) was added to replace Van Zandt; Springsteen's future wife, Patti Scialfa (vocals, later guitar), was also added to the lineup. By 2002, the band also included Soozie Tyrell (violin, vocals). Tyrell had earlier worked with Scialfa touring with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes and sporadically with Springsteen dating back to the early 1990s. Whether Tyrell became as full-fledged a member as the others remains unclear. Some press releases refer to her as a "special guest", the cover notes of Live in Barcelona list her as a "with" member, the liner notes of We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions refer to her as "violinist with the E Street Band," and some press releases don't mention her at all. When asked about the lack of mention in a press release prior to the Magic Tour, Springsteen just said in response, "Soozie will be with us." On occasions (e.g. their Super Bowl XLIII performance) the lineup has been augmented by a horn section, sometimes referred to as The Miami Horns. Its most prominent members include Richie Rosenberg (trombone) and Mark Pender (trumpet). Origins In the late 1960s and early 1970s there was a vibrant music scene in and around the city of Asbury Park on the Jersey Shore. Prominent in this scene were Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny as well as the early members of the E Street Band. Clemons, Federici, Lopez, Sancious, Tallent and Van Zandt honed their skills in numerous bands, both with and without Springsteen. These included Little Melvin & the Invaders, the Downtown Tangiers Band, the Jaywalkers, Moment of Truth, Glory Road, Child, Steel Mill, Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom, the Sundance Blues Band, and the Bruce Springsteen Band. In 1972 when Springsteen gained a recording contract with CBS he picked the cherries among Jersey Shore musicians to record – and to tour in support of – his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. By 1973 they had recorded a second album with Springsteen, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. Breakup In 1989 Springsteen informed the E Street Band members that he would not be using their services for the foreseeable future. He had already recorded one completely solo album, Nebraska. The last full band activity had been autumn 1988's Human Rights Now! Tour. Band members started to go their separate ways and onto separate projects – Tallent to Nashville to work on record production, Federici to California, Clemons to Florida, Lofgren to Maryland to resume his long-time solo activities. Weinberg, besides an abortive try at law school, was putting together the band Killer Joe and recording an album. Scene of the Crime included a guest appearance from Little Steven, playing guitar on the Springsteen written instrumental "Summer On Signal Hill." In 1993, Weinberg became the band leader on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and remained such for its entire run. When O'Brien moved to The Tonight Show in 2009, Weinberg reprised his role as bandleader, and the show's house band - formerly called the Max Weinberg 7 - was redubbed Max Weinberg and the Tonight Show Band. In 1992 the E Street Band and the Miami Horns backed Darlene Love on the single "All Alone on Christmas" written by Little Steven and featured on the soundtrack for Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Springsteen made guest appearances on solo albums by both Nils Lofgren and Clarence Clemons and he joined Max Weinberg, Garry Tallent, and Little Steven when they reprised their role as "honorary Jukes" on Southside Johnny's Better Days in 1992. Springsteen also continued to use assorted members of the band on his forthcoming albums and projects. Roy Bittan would be retained for both Human Touch and Lucky Town. The former included a guest appearance from David Sancious while the latter introduced Soozie Tyrell. Patti Scialfa also provided backing vocals on both. Little Steven produced and played guitar on a remix of the single "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)". However the majority of musicians used on these albums were session musicians. The E Street Band was not used on the subsequent Springsteen tour either, although Bittan was again retained and Scialfa occasionally added backing vocals; both were consequently featured on In Concert/MTV Plugged. The Ghost of Tom Joad saw Danny Federici, Garry Tallent, Tyrell, and Scialfa provide backing on some tracks while Federici, Tyrell and Scialfa all turn up sporadically on Devils & Dust. Although individual members of the band played on Human Touch, Lucky Town, In Concert/MTV Plugged, The Ghost of Tom Joad, and Devils & Dust, none of these albums are regarded as E Street Band albums. Tunnel of Love falls into a grey area and its status is open to debate. Reunion In 1995, Springsteen released Greatest Hits and the E Street Band was temporarily reunited to record four new songs. In 1998 he released Tracks, a box set collection of unreleased recordings dating back to 1972, many of which featured the band. Finally, in 1999 Springsteen and the E Street Band reunited on a more substantial basis, ten years after he had dismissed them. They staged an extremely successful Reunion Tour, culminating in an HBO special and collection Live in New York City. With the exception of Weinberg and Van Zandt, the band members had not found any career paths that could match the E Street Band for fortune and fame. Nevertheless, there seemed to be no long-term animosity from the split. In 2002, the reunion was continued with the release of new studio album The Rising and the long, successful Rising Tour. Another important release from this era was The Essential Bruce Springsteen, another greatest hits package combined with more archival material. The October 2004, the Vote for Change tour was the last E Street Band effort for a while. The 2005 Devils & Dust album used scatterings of Federici, Scialfa, and Tyrell, while the 2006 Sessions Band Tour used Scialfa and Tyrell among the largely numbered backing musicians. During the latter, Springsteen mentioned he did plan to work with the E Street Band again in the future, but was vague about details. Finally, in early 2007, E Street Band members separately traveled to Atlanta and recorded on Springsteen's album Magic, and concurrent with the album's release in October 2007, the Magic Tour began. However, after the conclusion of the tour's first leg on November 19, 2007, Danny Federici took a leave of absence from the tour to pursue treatment for melanoma; he was replaced by Sessions Band member Charles Giordano. Federici made his only return to the stage on March 20, 2008, when he appeared for portions of a Springsteen and E Street Band performance in Indianapolis. He died on April 17, 2008. Springsteen had always given elaborate band introductions during shows, often incorporating humorous characterizations of band members or stories of how they had joined and always building up to an over-the-top introduction of "Master of the Universe" stage foil Clarence Clemons. Springsteen used the ending of the Reunion Tour's band intro song, "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", to introduce a more specially branded sequence to emphasize his view of the E Street Band's greatness. This practice continued on "Mary's Place" on The Rising Tour and at the end of the Magic Tour shows with "American Land". The exact wording varied, but generally was some form of the following: :"city! :city!' :You've just seen...the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, house-rocking, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, Viagra-taking, love-making -Le-gen-dary E - Street - Band!" On the Magic Tour, the video screens around the stage added cartoon-like graphics to illustrate the final E! Street! Band! exclamation. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were the stars of the Super Bowl XLIII Halftime Show in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009. Springsteen's "heart-stopping ..." rap was included in the promotional material aired on NBC in the two months leading up to the performance. The sequence then got its biggest audience immediately prior to Springsteen and the band taking the stage at halftime, when a prerecorded series of football players from the game saying each phrase in turn was aired by way of introducing the performance. Prior to the game, on Thursday, January 29, Springsteen gave a rare press conference, where he promised a "twelve minute party". When asked if he would be nervous performing before such a large audience, Springsteen alluded to his recent January 18, 2009 appearance at the "We Are One" concert at the Lincoln Memorial, a celebration of Barack Obama's Presidential inauguration: “You'll have a lot of crazy football fans, but you won’t have Lincoln staring over your shoulder. That takes some of the pressure off.” The Super Bowl performance coincided with the release of a new album entitled Working on a Dream, released on January 27, 2009. The band's set, which ran a little over the allotted 12 minutes, included the songs "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", "Born to Run", "Working on a Dream", and "Glory Days". The Miami Horns and a large choir, the Joyce Garrett Singers, joined the band onstage. Nineteen-year-old Jay Weinberg filled in at drums for his father, Max, during portions of shows, or for some full shows, during the 2009 Working on a Dream Tour. This was due to the elder Weinberg's obligations for the debuting The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. The 49-year age difference between the younger Weinberg and bandmate Clarence Clemons was one of the largest within any popular musical act. On June 12, 2011, Clarence Clemons suffered a stroke and died six days later from resulting complications, on June 18 at the age of 69. Steve Van Zandt wrote on his web site "We will continue to make music and perform. Let's face it, that's all we really know how to do. But it will be very different without him." On February 11, 2012, Springsteen announced that Jake Clemons, the nephew of Clarence Clemons, would tour with the E Street Band as the group's new saxophonist, splitting time with Eddie Manion. Augmented by a full horn section, an additional percussionist in Everett Bradley, and an additional singer and rapper in Michelle Moore, the E Street Band that undertook the 2012-2013 Wrecking Ball Tour was the largest yet. On December 17, 2013, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that the E Street Band would be inducted in 2014 under the Award for Musical Excellence induction category. The band was inducted by Springsteen on April 10, 2014. All of the band members, plus the families of Danny Federici and Clarence Clemons gave speeches. Springsteen, the E Street Band, Lopez, Sancious, and The E Street Horns, performed "The E Street Shuffle", "The River", and "Kitty's Back". Timeline ImageSize = width:1200 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:0 right:0 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:10/01/1972 till:12/31/2013 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 Colors = id:lead value:red legend:Lead_vocals,_guitars id:saxophone value:blue legend:Saxophone id:bass value:green legend:Bass id:piano value:orange legend:Piano id:guitar value:purple legend:Lead_guitar id:organ value:yellow legend:Organ id:drums value:brightgreen legend:Drums id:vocals value:magenta legend:Guitars,_vocals id:lines1 value:black legend:Studio_albums id:lines2 value:gray(0.6) legend:Live_albums id:bars value:gray(0.95) ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:1973 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1973 BarData = bar:Bruce text:"Bruce Springsteen" bar:Clarence text:"Clarence Clemons" bar:Garry text:"Garry Tallent" bar:David text:"David Sancious" bar:Roy text:"Roy Bittan" bar:Steven text:"Steven Van Zandt" bar:Nils text:"Nils Lofgren" bar:Danny text:"Danny Federici" bar:Vini text:"Vini Lopez" bar:Ernest text:"Ernest Carter" bar:Max text:"Max Weinberg" bar:Suki text:"Suki Lahav" bar:Patti text:"Patti Scialfa" PlotData = width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Bruce from:10/01/1972 till:10/01/1989 color:lead bar:Bruce from:01/01/1995 till:05/31/1995 color:lead bar:Bruce from:06/01/1999 till:end color:lead bar:Clarence from:10/01/1972 till:10/01/1989 color:saxophone bar:Clarence from:01/01/1995 till:05/31/1995 color:saxophone bar:Clarence from:06/01/1999 till:06/18/2011 color:saxophone bar:Garry from:10/01/1972 till:10/01/1989 color:bass bar:Garry from:01/01/1995 till:05/31/1995 color:bass bar:Garry from:06/01/1999 till:end color:bass bar:David from:10/01/1972 till:09/01/1974 color:piano bar:Roy from:09/01/1974 till:10/01/1989 color:piano bar:Roy from:01/01/1995 till:05/31/1995 color:piano bar:Roy from:06/01/1999 till:end color:piano bar:Steven from:07/01/1975 till:07/20/1984 color:guitar bar:Steven from:01/01/1995 till:05/31/1995 color:guitar bar:Steven from:06/01/1999 till:end color:guitar bar:Nils from:07/20/1984 till:10/01/1989 color:guitar bar:Nils from:01/01/1995 till:05/31/1995 color:guitar bar:Nils from:06/01/1999 till:end color:guitar bar:Danny from:10/01/1972 till:10/01/1989 color:organ bar:Danny from:01/01/1995 till:05/31/1995 color:organ bar:Danny from:06/01/1999 till:04/17/2008 color:organ bar:Vini from:10/01/1972 till:02/20/1974 color:drums bar:Ernest from:02/20/1974 till:09/01/1974 color:drums bar:Max from:09/01/1974 till:10/01/1989 color:drums bar:Max from:01/01/1995 till:05/31/1995 color:drums bar:Max from:06/01/1999 till:end color:drums bar:Suki from:09/01/1974 till:03/01/1975 color:vocals bar:Patti from:07/25/1984 till:10/01/1989 color:vocals bar:Patti from:01/01/1995 till:05/31/1995 color:vocals bar:Patti from:06/01/1999 till:end color:vocals LineData = at:01/05/1973 color:lines1 layer:back at:09/11/1973 color:lines1 layer:back at:08/25/1975 color:lines1 layer:back at:06/02/1978 color:lines1 layer:back at:10/17/1980 color:lines1 layer:back at:06/04/1984 color:lines1 layer:back at:10/09/1987 color:lines1 layer:back at:02/27/1995 color:lines1 layer:back at:07/30/2002 color:lines1 layer:back at:09/25/2007 color:lines1 layer:back at:01/27/2009 color:lines1 layer:back at:03/06/2012 color:lines1 layer:back at:11/18/1975 color:lines2 layer:back at:05/06/1988 color:lines2 layer:back at:06/30/2000 color:lines2 layer:back at:04/08/2008 color:lines2 layer:back Discography Albums and singles featuring the E Street Band * Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band ** Live/1975–85 (1986) ** Live in New York City (2001) ** Hammersmith Odeon London '75 (2006) ** Magic Tour Highlights (2008) ** Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band Greatest Hits (2009) ** Live from the Carousel (2011) ** Arizona State University, Tempe 1980 (2015) * Bruce Springsteen ** Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973) ** The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (1973) ** Born to Run (1975) ** Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) ** The River (1980) ** Born in the U.S.A. (1984) ** Tunnel of Love (1987) ** Chimes of Freedom (1988) ** Greatest Hits (1995) ** Blood Brothers (1996) ** Tracks (1998) ** 18 Tracks (1999) ** The Rising (2002) ** The Essential Bruce Springsteen (2003) ** Magic (2007) ** Working on a Dream (2009) ** The Promise (2010) ** The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story (2010) ** Wrecking Ball (2011) ** High Hopes (2014) ** American Beauty (2014) ** The Ties That Bind: The River Collection (2015) ** Chapter and Verse (2016) *'Ronnie Spector & the E Street Band' **"Say Goodbye To Hollywood" / "Baby Please Don't Go" (1977) *'Gary U.S. Bonds' ** Dedication (1981) ** On the Line (1982) *'Other albums/singles' **Musicians United for Safe Energy: No Nukes (1979) **Various artists: In Harmony 2 (1981) **Various artists: A Very Special Christmas (1987) **Various artists: Folkways - A Vision Shared (1988) **Darlene Love: "All Alone On Christmas" (1992) **Various artists: The Concert for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1996) **Various artists: Enjoy Every Sandwich - The Songs Of Warren Zevon Albums and singles featuring two or more individual band members only *'Bruce Springsteen' - Part 2 These albums are notable for ''not using the E Street Band; however, a few members of the band appeared on each of them, including singer Patti Scialfa who appeared on all of them.'' *''Human Touch'' (1992) (Bittan, Scialfa, former-member Sancious) **''Lucky Town'' (1992) (Bittan, Scialfa, member-to-be Tyrell) **''In Concert/MTV Plugged'' (1992) (Bittan, Scialfa) **''The Ghost of Tom Joad'' (1995) (Federici, Tallent, Scialfa, member-to-be Tyrell) **''Devils & Dust'' (2005) (Federici, Scialfa, and Tyrell) **''We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions'' (2006) (Scialfa, Tyrell, member-to-be Giordano) ** Wrecking Ball (2012) (Clemons, Scialfa, Van Zandt, Weinberg, and Tyrell and Giordano) *'Meat Loaf' **''Bat out of Hell'' (1977) **''Dead Ringer'' (1981) *'Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes' **''Hearts Of Stone'' (1978) **''Better Days'' (1991) *'Bonnie Tyler' **''Faster Than The Speed Of Night'' (1983) **''Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire'' (1986) *'Patti Scialfa' **''Rumble Doll'' (1993) **''23rd Street Lullaby'' (2004) *'Other artists' **Ian Hunter: You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic (1979) **Garland Jeffreys: Escape Artist (1980) **Jim Steinman: Bad For Good (1981) **Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul: Men Without Women (1982) **Clarence Clemons: Hero (1985) **Artists United Against Apartheid: Sun City (1985) **John Eddie: John Eddie (1986) **Jersey Artists For Mankind: "We Got The Love" / "Save Love, Save Life" (1986) **Ringo Starr: Ringo Starr And His All-Starr Band (1990) **Nils Lofgren: Silver Lining (1990) **Steven Roque: The Hoarse Whisperer (1990) **Killer Joe: Scene Of The Crime (1991) **Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series Vol. III (1991) **Soozie Tyrell: White Lines (2003) Tours * Born to Run Tour, July 1975- March 1976 * Chicken Scratch Tour, March-May 1976 * The Lawsuit Tour, September 1976-March 1977 * Darkness Tour, May 1978-Jan 1979 * The River Tour, October 1980-September 1981 * Born in the U.S.A. Tour, June 1984-October 1985 * Tunnel of Love Express Tour, February-August 1988 * Amnesty International - Human Rights Now! Tour, September-October 1988 * Reunion Tour, April 1999-July 2000 * The Rising Tour, August 2002-October 2003 * Vote for Change Tour, September-October 2004 * Magic Tour, October 2007-August 2008 * Working on a Dream Tour, April-November 2009 * Wrecking Ball Tour, March 2012-September 2013 * High Hopes Tour, January-May 2014 * The River Tour 2016/Summer '17, January 2016-February 2017